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September 29, 2017 CapitalPress.com California Subscribe to our weekly California email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Florida’s citrus hit from Irma unlikely to impact Calif. growers CDFA approves dairy quota plan Consumers may see more imported juice, official says By CAROL RYAN DUMAS By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press EXETER, Calif. — The further devastation of Flori- da’s citrus industry by Hur- ricane Irma might increase prices for California fruit that’s diverted to juice, but its overall impact will be mini- mal, an industry insider says. That’s because the prices growers in the Golden State receive for their fresh orang- es, lemons and other citrus are already much higher than those paid for fruit headed to the juicer, said Bob Blakely, vice president of California Citrus Mutual. Fresh citrus nets the grow- er between $17 and $20 for each 40-pound carton, while oranges diverted to juice get about $185 a ton, which equates to about $3.70 for 40 pounds, Blakely said. “The juice price is doing better than it used to,” he said. “We used to say if we could get back our picking and haul- ing costs, we’ve done well.” In a given year, 10 to 20 percent of navels, Valencias and other citrus fruit from California groves is deemed unfit for the fresh market because of blemishes and set aside for juice, which en- ables the grower to recoup at least some return for the rejected fruit. But Florida’s industry is centered on juice, as its cli- mate is conducive to high sugar content and high qual- ity juice fruit that Califor- nia couldn’t match, Blakely said. Hurricane Irma earlier this month caused major tree dam- age, including uprooted trees across the middle of Florida and in its southwest corner, where some growers lost nearly all their fruit, accord- ing to industry officials. The devastation from the deadly tree disease huan- glongbing has already caused Florida to fall behind Califor- nia in total citrus production for the first time in decades. Florida’s 454,973 citrus acres is the lowest since at least 1966, according to the Na- tional Agricultural Statistics Service. Florida’s citrus production in 2016-17 was 78.1 million 90-pound boxes, down 17 percent from the previous season’s 94.3 million boxes, NASS reported. With har- vests there set to begin in No- vember, yields promise to be much lighter than the industry had expected. “It’s just unfortunate,” Blakely said. “They already had a short crop because of HLB, then they get this hurri- cane. I’m hearing reports that ... 40 percent of the entire crop was lost to the hurricane.” The futures market for juice has gone up, continuing a trend of higher juice pric- es over the last several years amid shorter supplies in Flori- da, Blakely said. But Florida’s woes won’t prompt more California grow- ers to begin juicing, nor will it likely entice Florida pro- ducers or processors to come West, he said. “Our regulatory costs and costs of production are just too high,” he said. “We’re a fresh market in- dustry and that’s not going to affect our growers’ deci- sion-making at all. There are different countries that will supply that juice before Cali- fornia does. “What we’re probably go- ing to see is more imported orange juice before we see any other juice produced in the United States,” he said. 9 Farmers soon will be asked to vote on proposal, which is similar to state’s current system Capital Press California dairy farmers will soon vote on a stand- alone quota program to be administered by the state if they also vote to join the federal milk marketing or- der system. The state’s secretary of agriculture on Monday ap- proved the program as rec- ommended by the producer review board tasked with developing a plan. Ballots on the quota plan will be mailed to eligible producers in the first two weeks of October. Produc- ers have 60 days to vote and return their ballots. Results will be published after the referendum is cer- tified. The plan will pass if 65 percent of producers rep- resenting 51 percent of the milk or 51 percent of pro- ducers representing 65 per- cent of the milk vote yes. The Quota Implemen- tation Plan would continue the long-standing, produc- er-funded program that now operates within the state’s marketing order. Producers have been adamant that the quota value must be main- tained if they join the feder- al order system. Quota programs don’t exist in the federal order system, but a provision in the last farm bill and USDA will allow the state to ad- minister its program outside the federal system. California’s quota sys- tem came about in the late 1960s as a means of com- pensating milk producers selling into the higher Class I market and gain their sup- port for establishing a state marketing order. The program was used to pool milk and distribute payments more evenly to producers of milk across all utilizations. It pays quota certificate holders $1.70 per hundred- weight above the state blend price for the amount of milk covered by their certificate. Those certificates are worth $1.2 billion and can be transferred or sold. Maintaining quota value is a critical piece in the pro- cess of establishing a feder- al order for California, said Lynne McBride, executive director of the California Dairy Campaign. Quota is unique to Cal- ifornia and important to producers, she said, adding that the CDC commends Online For more information, visit: http://bit.ly/2wOOVvb the producer review board for its open, transparent and participatory process in de- veloping a stand-alone pro- gram that would continue to operate. “We see this as a really important step toward a fed- eral order. We’re definitely urging California producers to vote ‘yes’ on this,” she said. The program would con- tinue to be operated by the state, and quota will still be transferable, able to be bought and sold and pay a premium, said Geoff Vanden Heuvel, a Chino dairy pro- ducer and Milk Producers Council board member and economic consultant. “I think the producer re- view board did a really good job. Their task was to pro- tect the value of quota, and I think they accomplished that,” he said. All grade A milk pro- duced in the state will be as- sessed at an estimated 35 to 37 cents per hundredweight to generate about $12 mil- lion a month needed to fund the quotas, he said. The plan, which will now go to a producer vote, is much the same as the current program. Capital Press File Cows lounge at VanderWoude Dairy near Merced, Calif. Dairy farmers will soon vote on a plan to maintain the California quota system even if they switch to a federal milk marketing order. The major difference is that producers will be direct- ly assessed and see a deduc- tion on their milk check. The current program is funded by the milk pool and producers are not directly assessed. The other significant change is that the state’s four producer handlers will now be assessed on milk that has been exempt from the milk pool. Associations provide recall liability insurance for produce growers IRVINE, Calif. — United Fresh Produce Association and Western Growers are offering what they say is the first-of-its-kind recall liability insurance. Under terms of a marketing agree- ment, United Fresh will exclusively endorse and promote Western Grow- ers Shield, proprietary insurance en- compassing property, contamination, recall, liability and non-physical damage loss of income. Tom Stenzel, United Fresh presi- dent and CEO, said the program is an innovative solution to a critical bot- tom line issue facing its members and that Washington, D.C.-based United Fresh looks forward to bringing the program to every segment of the fresh produce supply chain. “United Fresh and Western Grow- ers have a long history of working California Department of Water Resources The Delta Cross Channel, between the towns of Locke and Walnut Grove. California water officials plan to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, in part by building two 30-mile underground tunnels to ensure stable water delivery to millions of Californians, but that plan faces opposition. together to promote the competitive- ness and profitability of the fresh produce industry,” said Tom Nassif, Western Growers president and CEO. United Fresh reaches into states not served by Western Growers, he said. The associations are working on other proprietary solutions for the in- dustry, he said. United Fresh, founded in 1904, represents every segment of the fresh produce supply chain, including growers, shippers, processors, whole- salers, distributors and retailers. Western Growers, founded in 1926, represents fresh produce grow- ers in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico. Members provide half the nation’s fresh fruits, vegeta- bles and tree nuts, including half of the organic produce. — Dan Wheat DID YOU KNOW? FACT: New fight breaks out in California water wars • There is new stabilized dry granular NITRATE form of fertilizer available. By SCOTT SMITH AND ELLEN KNICKMEYER • SAN 30-6 has 30% nitrogen and 6% Phosphate. Associated Press FRESNO, Calif. — In California’s long-raging water wars, pitting north against south and farmer against city dweller, the one thing everybody agreed on Sept. 20 was that the outdat- ed method of shipping water throughout the state needs a serious upgrade. A group of influential California farmers shook up the debate Sept. 19, backing out of Gov. Jerry Brown’s $16 billion plan to build two massive water tunnels, re-engineering the delivery system. Westlands Water District in Fresno said it was too expensive and came with too few guarantees. Brown’s administration, however, gave no sign of giving up. Other key water districts serving vast farm- land in the most productive agricultural state and mil- lions of residents still have to weigh in, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. “I don’t think a ‘no’ vote is the end of the story,” said Metropolitan’s general man- ager, Jeffrey Kightlinger. “We don’t live in a world where we can just turn off the projects and walk away.” The proposed 30-mile- long tunnels, however, can’t survive as it’s drawn up now without “big players,” such as Westlands, said Kight- linger. Current plans call for building twin tunnels east of San Francisco to deliver water from the Sacramen- to River to farms and cities hundreds of miles away in central and southern Cali- fornia. Backers say the tunnels will stabilize flows, save endangered fish species and ensure a reliable water sup- ply. However, critics say it will be used to drain North- ern California dry and fur- ther harm native fish. It is California’s most ambitious water project in more than 50 years, when state and federal officials launched a campaign to win support for building the current system of reser- voirs, pumping stations and canals. Westlands farmers last week became the first of several large water districts to vote, pulling out after having spent millions over more than a decade on draw- ing up plans and calculating costs. • NITRATE nitrogen is the fastest acting nitrogen source. • A unique combination of ammonium phosphate and ammonium nitrate in a homogenous granule. • SAN 30-6 gets nitrogen to the plant when it needs it. Use for early, mid and late season applications. • SAN 30-6 is less volatile than other dry forms of Nitrogen. No need to add a nitrogen stabilizer. • Grass crops prefer a mixture of both Nitrate and Ammonium forms of nitrogen. • Grass seed set is determined in the Fall, so proper nitrogen and phosphorous nutrition are essential for maximum yield. AVAILABLE THROUGH YOUR LOCAL AG RETAILER. For Questions and More Information, Contact Two Rivers Terminal 866-947-7776 info@tworiversterminal.com www.tworiversterminal.com 39-1/101